To put it mildly, patience was the order of the day. Many eSports series have already returned to offline tournaments, LAN events, in the past weeks and months. Fortnite players are currently still exclusively online.
However, this will not remain so. EPIC Games has now announced that it will be hosting its first major LAN event before the end of the year. The announcement has not only caused joy among the professional players, but at the same time, of course, in the large Fortnite fanbase. We have compiled the information in the news.
FNCS Invitational 2022 in November.
The last LAN tournament was actually the Fortnite World Cup 2019. Since then, Epic Games has not organized or been able to organize a single offline event.
The FNCS Invitational 2022 is now planned, with the highlight to be played on November 12 and November 13 in Raleigh, USA. According to the announcement by EPIC Games, it is to be an invitational tournament. The exact mode of the event is not yet known. However, it is clear that the best Fortnite duos from all over the world will compete in Raleigh.
There will probably be one or two qualification rounds before the main event in November. We assume that some of the duos will be seeded directly for the main rounds via wildcards and that another group of players will get a chance to qualify.
It is already clear that there will be a lot of money at stake at the FNCS Invitational 2022 in the USA. The tournament will accrue a prize pool of $1 million.
Interestingly, Epic Games will run the LAN tournament under the Fortnite Championship Series on one hand, but separate from the main FNCS circuit on the other. The current rankings in the Fortnite Championship Series only play a limited role for participation. Points for the game series will not be awarded in Raleigh either. The LAN tournament is more of a high-profile show tournament, which should bring the stars of the scene closer together with the fanbase again.
BLAST will produce the 2022 Invitational
It is clear that the tournament will be produced by BLAST, including the live broadcasts of course. Epic Games and BLAST signed a collaboration agreement as recently as February 2022 this year, which includes BLAST being responsible for all broadcasts of the 2022 Fortnite Championship Series. The company has subsequently changed its lineup, unveiling a brand new Fortnite set to be streamed from its studios in Copenhagen.
BLAST is no stranger to being an eSports producer, on the contrary. The company is one of the top companies in the world, but had specialized almost exclusively in CS:GO Counter Strike. With Fortnite and FIFA, BLAST has now broadened its scope in the production of eSports events.
BLAST wants to expand cooperation with Epic Games
From the circles of BLAST was heard that they want to further expand the cooperation with Epic Games. It is always the company’s goal to improve all eSports, regardless of the title (discipline), he said. The work with Fortnite so far has brought the desired development, he said. Now, with the FNCS Invitational 2022, the next step is to be taken.
Epic Games added in its tournament announcement that there may well still be changes in terms of travel restrictions in the fall. The own plans are always adapted to the current laws and regulations.
